Descrição
Desde o final dos anos 1960, há tentativas de produção de um contraceptivo masculino reversível com eficácia equivalente à da pílula anticoncepcional. Até hoje, esse produto não foi lançado, e as justificativas para tal baseiamse em entraves de ordem política, econômica, cultural e biológica. O argumento do obstáculo fisiológico tem bastante proeminência nessas explicações e será o nosso foco neste artigo. Com base nos estudos de gênero e ciência, buscamos compreender como esse raciocínio aparece no trabalho de viabilização dessa tecnologia por um ator de destaque no campo, a organização não governamental (ONG) estadunidense Male Contraception Initiative. Por meio da técnica de análise de documentos e com base na metodologia de análise do discurso, buscamos compreender como o corpo masculino é representado e, consequentemente, materializado nesse processo de viabilização de uma “pílula masculina”, e debater o caráter generificado das concepções e intervenções biomédicas. Observa-se que a função reprodutiva dos homens cisgêneros é construída como complexa e, em certo sentido, resistente a intervenções farmacológicas. Tal caracterização se dá em comparação com o corpo feminino cisgênero, que é configurado como mais acessível para a realização da contracepção. A tradicional associação entremulheres e reprodução ehomens e sexo é facilmente reconhecida nessas perspectivas.||Since the late 1960s, attempts have been made to produce a reversible male contraceptive with efficacy equivalent to that of the contraceptive pill. To date, this product has not been launched and the justificationsforthisarebasedonpolitical,economic, cultural and biological barriers. The argument of a physiological obstacle has a lot of prominence in these explanations and will be our focus in this article. From the perspective of gender and science studies, we aim to understand how this argument appears incurrent efforts topromote this technology by a prominent actor in the field, the US NGO Male ContraceptionInitiative(MCI).Byusingthedocument analysis technique andthemethodology ofdiscourse analysis, we aim to understand how the male body is represented and, thus, how it is materialized in this process of developing a “male pill”, and to discuss the gendered character of biomedical conceptions and interventions in the field of contraception. We observed thatthe reproductive function of cisgender men is constructed as complex and, in a sense, as resistant to pharmacological interventions. Such characterizationoccursincomparisonwiththefemale cisgender body, which is seen as more accessible for contraception. The traditional association between women and reproduction and men and sex is easily recognized in these perspectives.Since the late 1960s, attempts have been made to produce a reversible male contraceptive with efficacy equivalent to that of the contraceptive pill. To date, this product has not been launched and the justificationsforthisarebasedonpolitical,economic, cultural and biological barriers. The argument of a physiological obstacle has a lot of prominence in these explanations and will be our focus in this article. From the perspective of gender and science studies, we aim to understand how this argument appears incurrent efforts topromote this technology by a prominent actor in the field, the US NGO Male ContraceptionInitiative(MCI).Byusingthedocument analysis technique andthemethodology ofdiscourse analysis, we aim to understand how the male body is represented and, thus, how it is materialized in this process of developing a “male pill”, and to discuss the gendered character of biomedical conceptions and interventions in the field of contraception. We observed thatthe reproductive function of cisgender men is constructed as complex and, in a sense, as resistant to pharmacological interventions. Such characterizationoccursincomparisonwiththefemale cisgender body, which is seen as more accessible for contraception. The traditional association between women and reproduction and men and sex is easily recognized in these perspectives.
